Kimberly could hear her heart pounding in her throat. Her eyes darted about the room, scouring each and every corner with the utmost vigilance. She swallowed, tasting her own fear.

“Oh God, help me…” she muttered, nervously fidgeting with her blouse; tears welled up in her eyes and she felt her knees buckle beneath her, “God help!”

* * * *

“She is wonderful, Goldar,” Zedd said as he walked down the corridor toward his bed chamber, “So young, so fresh and pure…” He shook his head, “So much like Hina.”

“But not a sorceress, my lord… nor a being of particular longevity.”

“Why must you sour everything, Goldar?” Zedd grumbled, “You’re just like your father used to be.”

‘And you like yours,’ Goldar tried not to reply; “My lord,” he said instead, “I’m just trying to offer you advice.”

“I can advise myself.”

“Your father thought the same,” Goldar snarled, unable to hold his tongue this time, “And look where it landed him - on the end of your claws.”

Zedd slung his arm about in the blink of an eye and, clutching the winged warrior about the throat, thrust him up against the wall; “I don’t recall asking for your damned opinion!” he snapped.

Goldar held his resolve and stared his master out until his grip loosened about his neck and dropped away. The Emperor gave his right hand a long lasting glare before he turned and marched on his way alone.

Goldar heaved a great sigh, rubbing his neck and staring into space. He then noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Finster stood there.

His brow furrowed, “What are you doing here?” he asked.

Finster gave him a blank stare, though Goldar knew that there was much more behind it; “Pacing from one part of the palace to another - is that a crime, warlord of Titan?”

Goldar’s gaze narrowed on him - he’d grown increasingly less trustful of the Clayobian Monster Maker since his Emperor’s arrival, though he knew not quite why; “No, it’s not…” He brushed himself off a little and walked by him, “On your way.”

Finster bowed his head as Goldar passed and disappeared back into the shadows…

* * * *

Kimberly looked up as the door behind her creaked open and watched, with her wide, horrified glare as the Lord of the Shadows himself entered - the fearsome Lord Zedd.

He looked down upon her, slowly pushing the door closed again behind him; “My dear,” he nodded.

She backed away from him, her hand reaching halfway toward her belt before she remembered that she didn’t have her Power Morpher with her anymore. She choked on her panic, desperation gnawing at her innards and causing her entire body to shake.

“Come, now,” Zedd purred, watching her move slowly away from him across the room, “Don’t be afraid.”

She wanted to snap one of her characteristic caustic remarks at him, but she couldn’t find her voice - the reality of her situation was simply too clear to her.

He began to approach her, “You look a lot like a woman I once loved dearly. I feel that history may be repeating itself for she treated me at first as aloofly as you do now.”

Kimberly’s brow knotted a little.

“Yes,” Zedd nodded, taking slow and steady steps, “And she later grew to love me, the man behind the mask and this gross physique.”

He soon caught up with her, and halted before her as she trapped herself by backing into a wall; “You will, too.”

“You are just as revolting on the inside, Zedd,” Kimberly snarled, finally finding the will to speak, her auburn eyes flaring at him.

He snuffed a little, and reached out toward her, running the tip of one of his claws up her throat and to her chin; Kimberly rose her head, feeling its sharpness against her skin, fearful that he may puncture it.

“You do not know me on the inside,” he replied.

Her eyes narrowed on him as she tried to perceive his exact meaning.

“I was not born this way.”

“Your mother would have had a shock if you were…” Kimberly shot out, seeming to gain more confidence the more pressure he put her under.

He laughed, but it was a cold laugh, one serving to mask his own rage, and Kim yelped as he grasped her about her throat, “Oh, always the joker!” he chortled.

His grip was so strong and heated that Kimberly soon felt herself grow short on breath, her vision spinning; “Stop it…” she murmured drowsily, white dots punctuating her sight.

His grip lessened but her dizzy spell only continued, and she felt his hands take hers in their grasp and place them on his face.

She heaved deep breaths as she strove to remain conscious, closing her eyes to shut out her spinning vision; as she closed them, however, she felt her sense of touch strengthen. The cool, metal exterior of Zedd’s mask was a relief to her faint and sweltering body, and she ran her hands over it, feeling the rim of his visor and the rifts of his mouthpiece, losing herself in this release, falling, unbeknownst, under his spell.

“I’m a man,” she heard him say, his voice coming to her clear and crisp through her nausea, “Not a monster.”

She frowned, her hands attracted to him like magnets, though she could feel herself striving to fight the impulse and trying to break free.

“Treat me like a man,” he went on.

Kimberly tried to open her eyes, but she couldn’t; “No…” she sighed.

“Give yourself to me.”

She shook her head, gathering her resolve, “No!” she screamed, tearing herself free from him and slamming back into the wall behind her; she hit her head in the rebound against the brickwork and soon her vision faded to black. She collapsed onto the floor.

Zedd watched her impassively, his body brimming with a little sweat from his transitory but exhausting bout of sorcery; even his power hadn’t been enough to draw her to him alone. Kimberly’s resolve was too strong, her determination fixed, and she would never fall under his spell with such facets in her personality. More was needed.

He paced to her and lifted her up in his arms, laying her down onto his bed and watching her with the infatuation of a love-struck schoolboy. She was so like Hina, it was frightening… except for the irksome stubbornness and tenacity. But that’s what he liked about her, it was what turned him on.

It’d be so easy to have her now, but even he wasn’t prepared to stoop to that level. He ran his hand round her brow and down her neck. He wanted her, but he wanted to do it the hard way.